''Becket or The Honour of God'' (french: Becket ou l'honneur de Dieu) is a 1959 play written in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

by Jean Anouilh. It is a depiction of the conflict between Thomas Becket and King Henry II of England leading to Becket's assassination in 1170. It contains many historical inaccuracies, which the author acknowledged.

Background

Anouilh's interpretation of the historical story, though often ironic, is more straightforward than

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biogr ...

's 1935 play on the same subject, '' Murder in the Cathedral'', which was intended primarily as a religious treatment. However, there are one or two similarities in the interpretation. In the introduction to the play, Anouilh explained that he based it on a chapter of an old book he had bought because its green binding looked good on his shelves. He and his wife read the 30 pages about Thomas Becket, and she urged him to write a play about Thomas. He did so, finishing the first part in only 15 days. It was not until he showed the finished play to a friend that he found out the old book he had based it on was historically incorrect in certain important aspects. Having built his play on Becket being

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

(when he was actually a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

whose family was from near

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Théâtre Montparnasse The Théâtre Montparnasse is a theatre at 31, rue de la Gaîté in the 14th arrondissement of Paris. History After the death of famed Paris theatre builder and artistic director Henri Larochelle (1826-1884), his widow, along with former actor ...

-Gaston Baty in Paris on 8 October

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

and in an English translation on Broadway in 1960.

Broadway

The first Broadway production premiered on 5 October 1960 at the

St. James Theatre The St. James Theatre, originally Erlanger's Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 246 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, it was designed by Warren and Wetmore in a neo-Georgian style a ...

. It was produced by

David Merrick David Merrick (born David Lee Margoulis; November 27, 1911 – April 25, 2000) was an American theatrical producer who won a number of Tony Awards. Life and career Born David Lee Margulois to Jewish parents in St. Louis, Missouri, Merrick gradua ...

and directed by Peter Glenville, and starred

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...

as Thomas Becket and Anthony Quinn as King Henry II. The production was nominated for five Tony Awards and won four, including Best Play. The play later transferred to the Royale Theatre and then to the Hudson Theatre. It's been wrongly believed that during the run Quinn and Olivier switched roles, with Quinn playing Becket to Olivier's King. In fact, Quinn left the production to work on a film, and director Glenville suggested a road tour with Olivier as Henry. Olivier happily acceded, and

Arthur Kennedy John Arthur Kennedy (February 17, 1914January 5, 1990) was an American stage and film actor known for his versatility in supporting film roles and his ability to create "an exceptional honesty and naturalness on stage", especially in the origi ...

took on the role of Becket, with Olivier playing Henry, both for the tour and a brief return to Broadway. However, according to John Cottrell's biography of Laurence Olivier, Anthony Quinn was dismayed and angry when he read that Olivier was getting better reviews for his performance as Henry than Quinn had gotten, claiming that he would never have left the production if he had known that was going to happen. (After Olivier's death Quinn displayed extreme animosity towards the actor in his second autobiography.) Even so, it was Quinn who was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance, while Olivier was overlooked.

London productions

The first London production was at the Aldwych Theatre on 11 July 1961, directed by Peter Hall for the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

. Eric Porter played Becket and Christopher Plummer the King, with Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, Peter Jeffrey, Diana Rigg, Ian Holm and Roy Dotrice in the cast. The play later transferred to the

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and gra ...

. Plummer won the Evening Standard Award for his performance after taking over the part from

Peter O'Toole Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was a British stage and film actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic ...

, who broke his contract with the

RSC RSC may refer to: Arts * Royal Shakespeare Company, a British theatre company * Reduced Shakespeare Company, a touring American acting troupe * Richmondshire Subscription Concerts, a music society in Richmond, North Yorkshire, England * Rock Ste ...

before rehearsals began in order to take the lead in

David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Widely considered one of the most important figures in British cinema, Lean directed the large-scale epics ''The Bridge on the River ...

's film ''

Lawrence of Arabia Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...

''. The play was revived in a new translation by Frederic Raphael and Stephen Raphael in October 1991 at the

Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote ...

with Derek Jacobi as Becket and Robert Lindsay as the King and again in October 2004 with Dougray Scott and

Jasper Britton Jasper Britton (born 11 December 1962) is an English actor. Early life and education Britton was born in Chelsea in London, and educated at Belmont Preparatory School, Sussex House School and Mill Hill School, north London. Britton is the onl ...

. The original English translation for the 1961 version (by

Lucienne Hill Lucienne Marie Hill (née Palmer) (30 January 1923 – 29 December 2012) was a French-English translator and actor. She was born in Kilburn, London to an English father and a French mother. She studied modern languages at Somerville College, Oxf ...

) was revived at the Southwark Playhouse in September 2001 with Rupert Degas and Colin Salmon.

Film adaptation

In 1964 the play was made into a successful film, starring

and Richard Burton with John Gielgud, Donald Wolfit and Martita Hunt. Additional scenes were written by

Edward Anhalt Edward Anhalt (March 28, 1914 – September 3, 2000) was an American screenwriter, producer, and documentary filmmaker. After working as a journalist and documentary filmmaker for Pathé and CBS-TV, he teamed with his wife Edna Anhalt, one of h ...

for the film. Anhalt won an Academy Award for his screenplay. The film introduced a somewhat fictionalized plot element not in the original play. Rather than the main conflict between Becket and the King revolving around the Constitutions of Clarendon - as is depicted in the play and as happened in historical fact - the film's dispute between Becket and Henry II centers on the assassination of an accused priest by the henchmen of Lord Gilbert, a nobleman and friend of King Henry, and Becket's excommunication of Gilbert as a result. At the beginning of the movie's DVD commentary,

relates his meeting with Anouilh in Paris a few years before the film was made because he was being considered for the play. Anouilh told him that he had been looking for an idea based on a rift in the leftist

Théâtre National Populaire The Théâtre national populaire (French for ''People's National Theater'') is a theatre now at Villeurbanne, France. It was founded in 1920 by Firmin Gémier in Paris. Today, the TNP has a company of ten resident actors and the building is cur ...

between the actors

Gérard Philipe Gérard Philipe (born Gérard Albert Philip, 4 December 1922 – 25 November 1959) was a prominent French actor who appeared in 32 films between 1944 and 1959. Active in both theatre and cinema, he was, until his early death, one of the main ...

and

Daniel Ivernel Daniel Ivernel (3 June 1920 – 11 November 1999) was a French film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1947 and 1981. Filmography References External links * 1920 births 1999 deaths French male film actors People from Versai ...

. He visited Canterbury and decided the Becket story would be a good vehicle. Philipe and Ivernel were cast as Becket and Henry respectively for the Paris première of the play, but Philipe died before rehearsals were completed.

Radio adaptation

Ukemi Productions has adapted the work into a radio play for

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

. The play stars Toby Stephens as the King and David Morrissey as Becket, and was broadcast on 4 October 2009.BBC Press Office (28 August 2009).
Classic stage plays and adaptations of major works of fiction at the heart of new drama season on Radio 3
. Press release. Retrieved on 28 August 2009.

References

External links

*
Costume design sketches
by Motley Theatre Design Group for Jean Anouilh's 1960 Broadway production at

and Hudson Theatre
Motley Collection of Theatre & Costume Design
{{TonyAwardBestPlay 1947-1975 1959 plays Broadway plays Cultural depictions of Thomas Becket Cultural depictions of Eleanor of Aquitaine Henry II of England Plays about English royalty Plays set in the 12th century Plays based on actual events Plays based on real people Plays by Jean Anouilh Tony Award-winning plays French plays adapted into films Plays adapted into radio programs Martyrdom in fiction